Processional monstrance

Processional monstrance

The cathedral acquired this processional monstrance thanks to the bequest of Archbishop Francisco de Esquivel y Landa (1550-1614), according to the inscription on the lower edge of the base. The work was commissioned in 1623 to Juan Lorenzo, a prestigious silversmith from Valladolid, although Juan Antonio Sotil, a silversmith from Vitoria, later made a base to support it in 1764. It was restored in 1963 by the gold and silversmith José Puigdoller, who made a platform with the coats of arms of Pope John XXIII and Bishop Francisco Peralta.

It is a processional monstrance that follows the typological outlines disseminated by Juan de Arfe in his famous treatise entitled De varia conmensuración (1585-1587). It should be stylistically categorised as early Baroque classicism, heir to the aesthetics of the Escorial style. Its architectural component has three superimposed bodies that decrease in height as they ascend, culminating in a circular dome and Latin cross. The iconographic programme employed revolves around its Eucharistic nature, as can be seen in the central representation of the high priest before the table with the bread and wine offered to Abraham, a prefiguration of the Last Supper.